COVID update: Illinois reports 5,020 new cases, 14 deaths

CDC has eased quarantine, testing guidelines

ByEric Horng and ABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Thursday, August 18, 2022
CDC updates COVID guidelines, including 'test-to-stay'
The CDC announced new COVID guidelines for after exposure, including removing the "test-to-stay" guideline for unvaccinated students, which CPS has recently expanded.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois reported 5,020 new COVID cases and 14 new deaths Thursday.

The Illinois Dept. of Public Health says "daily deaths reported on weekends and at the beginning of the week may be low" and "those deaths will be captured in subsequent days."

The video from the player above is from a previous report.

There have been at least 3,641,081 total COVID cases in the state since the start of the pandemic and at least 34,578 related deaths.

RELATED | CDC drops quarantine, social distancing, school screening recommendations for COVID-19

As of Wednesday night, 1,437 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 160 patients were in the ICU, and 56 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. Health officials say 19% of ICU beds are available.

The daily case rate per 100,000 population is at 27.9.

A total of 23,157,840 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois as of Wednesday and 69.6% of the state's population is fully vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 8,125.